Indian Man Returns Home After 20 Years; UAE Waives Off AED 750,000 Fine

by Yogita Chainani
Indian Man Returns Home After 20 Years; UAE Waives Off AED 750,000 Fine

An Indian expat from the UAE will finally return home after two decades, all thanks to the UAE government. The UAE government generously waived off nearly AED 750,000 overstay fines of Thanavel Mathiazhagan. Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Thanavel Mathiazhaagan, 56, arrived in the UAE in 2000 through a recruitment agent on the promise of a job. Similarly, here’s how this Indian without passport reunited with his family in India. 

Also read: Telangana Man Stranded In UAE For 13 Years With No Documents, Finally Returns Home

Tamil Nadu Man Stayed In Dubai Illegally To Support His Family Back In India

The agent, who took Mathiazhaagan’s passport, later disappeared and he had to illegally stay in the UAE to provide for his family in India by doing part-time jobs. And when things got difficult during the pandemic, Mathiazhaagan approached two social workers for help in the UAE. The only document he had was his employment visa, entry permit and a copy of the last page of his passport. 

Ak Mahadevan and Chandra Prakash, who helped him get an emergency certificate through the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi, said, 

“He had failed to get identity clearance from India during the pandemic as there was a mismatch in his father’s name in documents back home and that shown in his passport.”

Also read: Stranded In UAE for 10 Years Indian Man Is Finally Going Home

With The Help Of The Social Workers, Emergency Certificate Was Issued By The Indian Embassy

To ensure that he reaches home, the social workers approached the Indian embassy. They also approached the local departments in Mathiazhaagan’s village to rectify the mistake and process his documents. They then arranged an emergency certificate for him. Emergency certificate is a one-way travel document issued to Indians without a valid passport, to facilitate their return home. 

Also read: 46 Hours, 2 Days, 3 Cities: Here’s How Two Stranded Indian Teens Reached Home In Time For Eid

A leading daily also reported that Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor took a special interest in solving this case. However, this is not the first time that the government is helping an expat, in the past, it had helped many stranded Indians by waiving off their fines.